Coffin.



TTORNEY.

M. N. JUNES.

COFEIN.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1916.

Patented May 1, 191 7.

INVENTOR. MARsHALL N. JONES.

MARSIHALL 1v. Jonas,

or'nnnvna, COLORADO, Assrenon r narrosmt GLASS casirnr cosrrnuy, A conrona'rron or coLoaADo.

corrrlv.

To all whom arm come Be it known that I, MARSHALL N. Jonas,

1 a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Denver, in the'county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Coflins, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. 1

' My ini ention is an "improvement in cofiins or burial caskets and its principal object is the provision of a coffin made of glass and strengthened by metallic reinforcing members embedded in'a portion of the same. so

that itflwill still retain its shape even if the glass of which it is made become cracked or broken." Another object of my invention is to provide independent]supporting or carrying'means extending around the coffin, thus relieving the'str'ucture of strains and leverage to which it would be subjected if the supporting handleswere secured merely to its sides or if the load has to be carried by the structure itself. A still further object of my invention is the provision of a coflin with; ornamental supporting or carrying means-[which are adapted to be readily and quickly removed if it is desired that the ,coflin should not carry the same when low- 'ered into the grave. Further and'i'nore'par ticular objects and advantages of my inventionwill later appear-in this specification.

' In the single sheet of drawings accompa nying this application and forming a part Figure'1isa perspective view of a poflin made according to my nvention; FigJ2-is a longitud nal, vertical section througlrthe center line of Fig. 1;

' Fig. '3 is a bottom plan view of the coffin v maderof molded glass and is in two parts,

the base B and the cover or lid C. l/Vhile it will be obvious that, if desired, reinforcing elements may be employed throughout the device, in the preferred embodiment of the same shown .in drawings these reinforcements are comprised only in "the base B.

Specification of Letters Patent.

implication filed November 7, 1916. Serial No. 129,946. x

Patented tra i, 191 '2.

They-.areembedded in the glass during the operation of molding, being inserted in the mold prior to the pouring orpressing; of the glass. vWhile in the mold, the reinforcing wires 10 (see Fig. 4) are suspended in position by the metallic strap member,1l',lthe wires 10 being provided at their upper ends with loops which pass around the strap member 11 from insideto outside) In addition to the circumferential reinforcing el'eforcing elements12, which, may or may'riot be tied to the elements 10,. as preferred.-

Just above the strapmember 11 the mold is shaped to give the base B a shoulder 13 and,

forming a means for: attachment of the" carrying mea ns-and'the "cover or lid hinges.

In order that the casket may be adapted to slide, it is necessary thatits base be furnished with. skids. I therefore core out slight recesses in the .base, rectangular in shape, which extend almost to the ends of the base, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

therebelpiv on account of thelr greater thickness, there are inserted v wooden skids 16, which are provided with'a plurality of transverse openings. These skids are held in place byseveral ornamental appearing wires 17, which pass through small openings 18 in the skids and are secured vbetween the strap member ll and the band 1 1. No I strain is exerted on these wires, they'being merely for the purpose of; preventing, the skids from dropping out of their recessesf when the cofiin is lifted. i

As' previously stated, the strain exerted by the load, constituted by the weightof the casket and itscontained body, is not'carried by the casket structure itself but-by a supplemental structure. In the preferred form of the invention, shown in the 'first five figures, this supplemental structure consists of a plurality of casket engaging and supporting bands 19, which may be formed of heavy silvered wire or the like and which pass around the casket and are provided at their ends with loops 29, which engage the 110 ments 10, I prefer to addy'horizontal -rein- Fitting within these recesses, but projecting supportingrods 21. In the preferred form,-

illustrated in said first five figures, these bands are not integral but are divided at their middle point, where they areprovided with loops, these loops each engaging a longitudinally extending rod 22. The rods 21, which also-serve to constitute handles for carrying, are slidably mounted in arms 23,

which are in turn pivoted in sockets carried 'by the'band 14. Links 21, located at either end of the base, are preferably provided for retaining the rods 21 in position either swung down. close to-the casket body, as shown in the drawings, or in'extended position ,to conveniently --serve as handles..

Slots 25, provided with slightly enlarged ends, as'shown, are provided in the links 21 for this purpose. The loops 20 are soproportioned that when the rods or handles 21 are in extendedposition the loops 20 engage the rods 21 and serve to takethe load. Threaded knobs 26 on the ends of the rods 21 serve to. retain the rods 21 and the links 2.4 in proper relation and, when unscrewed, permit the ready separation of the supporta ing means.

The upper surface of the rim of the base B is provided with a recess 27 adapted'to 'r'eceive'a similarly shaped projection 28 on the cover; when it is desired toseal the casket this recess is filled with any suitable cement and. when the cover is lowered and the cement had an opportunity to set the.

I casket will be hermetically. sealed.

The cover orflid C is provided with a band 29 suitably secured thereto and embraced behind a shoulder 30. To this band at the rear are secured the hinges 31, these hinges being also attached to the band 11 'on the base B. A handle 32 for conveniently manipulating the lid or cover Q is also secured to the band v In the operation of molding the base B I prefer to formwithin the interior thereof and which extend from one rod 21 to the other. In this instance it is only necessary to make the openings in the skids 16 large enough so that the loops 20 may readlly pass therethrough.

If bodies are interred without suitable embalming', the gases formed by decomposition will serve to rupture any hermetically sealed coflin and for this reason I prefer to provide'a relief valve 36, which is indicated n Fig. 2. This valve is prefe ably spring pressed and opens in an outwardly direction only, being normally seated to prevent the entrance of moisture or the like. One principal advantage of a casket such as Ihave described in this application is its once be collectedfsy This releases the major portionand almost all of the expensive trimmings for use in another instance.

A furtheradvantage of a coffin made as is the present one, of non-perishing material, is that when sealed it also serves the purpose of a vault.

Having thus described my invention, 7

what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cofiin comprising a base and a cover, said base being composed of a glass structure having embedded therein a. metallic reinforcing structure comprising a horizontally circumferential strap member the outer face of which is exposed, a finishing band secured to said circumferential strap member, a longltudinally extending rod at each side of said base and supported by said:

finishing band. and a plurality of supporting bands extending under said base and connected at their opposite ends to said rods.

2. A cofiin comprising a base and a cover, said base being composed of a glass structure having embedded therein a metallic reinforcing structure comprising a horizontally circumferential strap member the outer face of which is exposed, a finishing band secured to said circumferential strap member, a longitudinally extending rod at each side of said base and pivotally connected to said finishing band, and a plurality of supporting bands extending under said base and connected at their opposite ends to said rods by elongated loops.

3. A cofiin comprising a base and a cover, said base being composed of a glass structure having a finishing band 'thcrearound, longitudinally extending rods at each side of said base and pivotally connected to said finishing band, a plurality of centrally divided, supporting. bands extending under said base and connected at their opposite ends to said rods by elongated loops, and removable means for connecting the sections of said supporting bands at the point of division.

4. A cofiin comprising a base and a cover, said base being composed of a glass structure having aifinishingband therearound, a longitudinally extending rod at each side of said base and connected by pivoted arms to said finishing band, a plurality of supsaid base having a finishing band therearound, a plurality of arms pivoted to said band at each side of said base, a longitudinally extending rod slidably mounted in said arms at each side of said base, threaded knobs retaining said rods in position, and

a plurality of supporting bands extending under said base and connected at their 0pposite ends to said rods by slotted links.

6. A cofiin comprising a base and a cover, said base having recesses in its bottom and a circumferential strap member embedded in its body adjacent its upper edges, skids fitting in said recesses,wires passing through said skids and having their ends adjacent said strap member, and a finishing band secured to said strap member and clamping the ends of said Wires thereto.

, In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature.

MARSHALL N. JONES. 

